NCBC Statement on Recent Developments in Obtaining Embryonic Stem Cells Through Embryo Biopsy October 18, 2005   It was recently reported in the journal Nature (published online October 16, 2005) that the technique of single-cell embryo biopsy was used to obtain embryonic stem cells from mice without destroying the embryos. Several embryonic stem cell lines were successfully developed from the originating cells, and the biopsied embryos progressed to term. While the attempt to obtain embryonic-like stem cells for the purpose of establishing embryonic stem cell lines without destroying embryos is in principle morally laudable, any procedure that places at risk the health and life of a human embryo for purposes that do not directly benefit the embryo is morally unacceptable.   This moral standard is made clear by the teaching of Donum vitae issued by the Holy See in 1987: "No objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human beings or to society, can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos or foetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside the mother's womb" (I, 4). Furthermore, whether for research or reproductive purposes, it is morally objectionable and beneath human dignity to engender human life through in vitro fertilization or other procedures which replace the marital act and which place the embryo in a vulnerable position and subject to the willful choices of others even as it comes into being.

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